Lecture 5. Paraphrasing and Summarising

8/17/2019 Lecture 5. Paraphrasing and Summarising

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Mohammed Kheider University of Biskra

Faculty of Letters and Languages

Department of Foreign Languges

Division of English

Master 2 Classes

Lecture 5: Paraphrasing and summarizing

In the course of dissertation writing, students are supposed to paraphrase and

summarize several sources they come across. The objective is to express the ideas in

their own words to avoid falling into the trap of plagiarism. Paraphrasing and

summarizing are two difficult skills in academic writing because they require active

reading, effective comprehension and accurate reproduction of the original text.

1. Paraphrasing

In its broadest sense, paraphrasing refers to the process of reproducing the

original text in the writer’s own words.

1.1. DefinitionFollowing Bowker (2007: 13), paraphrasing means “to restate information

using different words. Unlike summarizing though, paraphrasing focuses less on

shortening and condensing the information. Paraphrasing aims to rewrite the

information by drawing on different words and phrases”. Consider this example.

Source: Bowker (2007: 13)



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From the above example, it is shown that paraphrasing is a rewritten statement of the

original text in the writer’s own words. Paraphrasing keeps the same idea and length

of the original material. In other words, it is a restatement of the information in

different words, but maintaining the same meaning.

To produce an effective paraphrase, one needs to follow these steps:

Replacing difficult vocabulary words or phrases with words the student

understands

Rewriting lengthy or complex sentences into simpler sentences, or combining

simple sentences into more interesting, complex sentences

Explaining concepts and abstract ideas from sentences or passages using more

clear and concise wording

Translating ideas and information into students’ own words

Moreover, the paraphrased version needs to be significantly different from the

author’s original version. Copying large parts from the original text and changing few

phrases is not an acceptable paraphrase. Similarly, keeping the same sentence

structure with minor phrase changes does not make the paraphrased version different

from the author’s original version. Consider this illustration (Bowker 2007: 15).

Although there is an attribution of the author’s ideas in the parenthesized citation, few

changes of words as (represents=signifies, creations=products, ability=capacity, etc)

does not make it an acceptable paraphrase. However, the following version is

acceptable because the writer puts his/her own comprehension framework in the paraphrased version without altering the entire meaning of the passage.



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1.2. Guidelines for an effective paraphrasing

(Adapted from Carolyn Wisniewski’s “Understanding and Avoiding Plagiarism,” p.

22, and from the Simon and Schuster Handbook for Writers, 3rd

ed., p. 564)

Read through the passage several times, and use your own words, phrasing,

and sentence structure to restate the idea.

State what the text states and emphasize what the text emphasizes.

Use synonyms for individual words and to rearrange the sentence structure.

Expect your paraphrase to be about as long as, and possibly longer than, the

original passage.

If you are paraphrasing a technical source, you might need to keep jargon and

technical phrases in your paraphrase.

Use quotations only if using a certain synonym is awkward.

Consider introducing the source before the paraphrased text. Then at the end

of the paraphrase, give credit to your source by adding an appropriate citation.

Provide a citation every time you paraphrase, even within the same paragraph.

Reread the passage to make sure that you have included all the necessary

information, to double check that your language does not coincide with that of

the original, and to make sure that your paraphrase does not distort the

source’s meanings.

1.3. Practice

Original passage:

Statements that seem complimentary in one context may be inappropriate in another.

For example, women in business are usually uncomfortable if male colleagues or

superiors compliment them on their appearance: the comments suggest that the

women are being treated as visual decoration rather than as contributing workers. (p.



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323) ---Locker, K. O. (2003). Business and administrative communication (6th ed.).

St. Louis, MO: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.

Let’s first identify the important ideas in this passage:

Appropriateness of statements is situational.

Example is that working women may view compliments about

appearance as offensive.

These compliments can be offensive because they may imply women are

“decoration.”

Read the sample paraphrases below. For each of the paraphrases, determine if

both wording and sentence structure were changed. Also check to see if all of

the original points were included and if the original meaning was retained.

Paraphrase A:

Words or expressions which appear favorable in one situation might be improper in a

different situation. For instance, employed females are often uneasy when they are

given positive comments on their looks. These remarks imply that the females are

being viewed as adornment instead of as productive employees (Locker, 2003).

[Although this paraphrase does a good job of changing the wording, it is not effective

for two main reasons. First, it follows the sentence structure of the original passage

too closely. Second, it fails to mention anything about "male colleagues or superiors."

It also follows the same order or structure of ideas.]

Paraphrase B:

Some statements may be inappropriate in one context, even though they are

complimentary in another. Compliments by male colleagues or superiors regarding a

female coworker’s appearance, for example, often make the woman feel

uncomfortable. Instead of treating the women as contributing workers, men obviously

think of them as visual decoration (Locker, 2003).

[While this paraphrase does a better job of changing the sentence structure, it also is

ineffective. It uses too many of the words from the original passage. Further, it

changes the meaning when it declares that "men obviously think of them as visual

decoration." It also follows the same order or structure of ideas]



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Paraphrase C:

Women may feel uneasy upon receiving ordinarily positive comments on their

appearance from male coworkers or supervisors. To these women, the remarks carry

an implied meaning: instead of being thought of as productive employees, they are

actually being viewed as just a pretty part of the atmosphere. Depending on the

situation, words or expressions which appear favorable may actually be unsuitable in

a conversation (Locker, 2003).

[This paraphrase is the most effective. In addition to changing both the wording and

sentence structure, it includes all points and retains the meaning of the original

passage. It also changes the order of ideas.]

2. Summarizing

Students often feel lost in the details of long reading passages because of the large

amount of information they encounter. As an effective writing strategy to draw up the

main ideas out of the details, a summary enables students to shorten the text in their

own words to perceive the greater picture.

2.1. Definition

A summary is an overview on the main ideas of the original text. Following

Bowker (2007: 12), summarizing involves selecting out some key features and then

using those to create a shortened version of the author’s prose. She suggests this

example:



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The example shows that the summary is a simplified version of the text using

different sentence structure and arrangement of ideas. However, some key words from

the original version are used in the summary such as school, child, learn, academic in

order to maintain the meaning of the original text.

2.2.Guidelines for writing a summary

A good summary is the one that constructs a shortened version in different phrasing

and keep the information of the original text. Hucker (2009: 352) lists these guidelines

to write an effective summary.

In the first sentence, mention the title of the text, the name of the author, and

the author's thesis or the visual's central point.

Maintain a neutral tone; be objective.

Use the third-person point of view and the present tense: Taylor argues.

Keep your focus on the text. Don't state the author's ideas as if they were your

own.

Put all or most of your summary in your own words; if you borrow a phrase or

a sentence from the text, put it in quotation marks and give the page number in

parentheses.

Limit yourself to presenting the text's key points.

Be concise; make every word count.

Summarizing a text indicates the writer’s understanding of the key ideas of the

original text.

2.3. Practice

1. Original text

Since the time of Descartes, it is estimated that no fewer than five hundred attempts

have been made to create artificial languages for international use. The most

successful by far has been Esperanto, a language constructed around the end of the

nineteenth century by Dr. Zamenhof of Poland. Esperanto is a language that is

extremely easy to learn and speak, with its words drawn mainly from English,

German, the Romance languages, Latin and Greek. (Pel, p. 75)



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The Outline

Many artificial languages have been made.

Esperanto is the most successful one.

Constructed by Zamenhof around the 19th century.

Easy to learn and speak

Based on E, G, the Romance, L and Gr. in terms of vocabulary

Summary:

Of the many artificial languages that have been developed, Esperanto, invented by

Zamenhof about 1900, has been the most successful. Easy to learn and speak, its

vocabulary comes mainly from Western European languages, Latin, and Greek. (Pel,

p. 75)

2. Original text

For generations, Americans have researched their pasts to discover who their

ancestors were. In recent years, many more people have developed an avid interest in

their genealogy and the cultural heritage of their ancestors. This interest was sparked

for two reasons. First, Americans celebrated the bicentennial of the United States in

1976 and paid tribute to this country’s history. Second, and more recently, the book

Roots, which traces the family history of an American black man named Alex Haley

back to Africa, was serialized on national television. As a result of these two events, a

new pastime for thousands of Americans was created.

The Outline

American research into background

- Ancestors

- Cultural heritage

Reasons for research

- Bicentennial celebration –

- Roots



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Summary:

Recently, many Americans have become interested in researching their backgrounds

in order to identify their ancestors and learn about their cultural heritage. This

interest in genealogy began with the U.S. Bicentennial celebration and intensified

with the televising of the family history of Alex Haley, a black American.

References

Bowker, N. (2007). Academic writing: a guide to tertiary level writing. New

Zealand Massey University. Student Learning Development Services

Hacker, D. (2009). Rules for writers: 6th edition. New York. Bedford/St.

Martin's

Higher Score (2007). How to paraphrase effectively. Canada. Rtreived

November 23rd , 2014 from ………………………………

Leibensperger, S. (2003). Learn to paraphrase. U. K. The Academic Center,

the University of Houston-Victoria. Retrieved November 23 rd, 2014 from

Practice on paraphrasing and summarizing

Paraphrase and summarize this original passage in the space provided below.

Documents

Lecture 5. Paraphrasing and Summarising